Basil Braveheart (Cante Tinza), an Oglala Lakota elder, plans to visit Santa Fe, New Mexico the weekend of February 10-12, 2006 to conduct Hocokat-Ton-Yan Wicozanni (Healing in a Circle).

I spoke with Mr. Braveheart by phone a couple of days before his visit. He told me that while he is in New Mexico he will guide teaching circles through an in-depth exploration of ceremony and ritual. He said that in this context the foundational focus of the weekend will be the honoring of feminine balance.

“There’s a profound imbalance in the world,” Braveheart said. “Because of masculine-patriarchal dominance, the feminine principle has been repressed. Thus we see an absence of relatedness, affection, and intuition. These aspects are essential for balance.”

“These spiritual concepts have a connection with the scientific concepts of Quantum Mechanics,” he said. “Native peoples have always seen the Creator present in all directions and in sacred motion. Ritual and ceremony are all about relatedness. In them we use symbols and images, and through these means people are introduced to a more compassionate way of relating to each other, to the sacred, and to Creator.”

“Quantum Mechanics is motion,” Braveheart said. “At the level of molecules, atoms, superstrings and such, all is in motion. Nothing is static. All of the universe is always in motion. My people have always understood this, and our rituals and ceremonies are an expression of our understanding, and a way to come into better relation with all that is. We have words in our language to describe this, and to communicate about it.”

“Indigenous people understand that Creator is revealed in all of Creation — in the air, the fire, the water, and the earth. We need to share these ways with the world.”

Braveheart has prepared himself for teaching via the traditional ways of the Lakota, and also has acquired two Masters degrees in education. He works extensively with veterans suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as with other people who have addictions. Recently he has begun to travel to teach about Native American spirituality.

The weekend circle is being sponsored by Inyan Oyate Foundation, and will take place at the Ghost Ranch Conference Center, 401 Old Taos Highway, in Santa Fe.

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